Helen Macpherson Smith was the only child of Australian born Jane Priscilla, née Macpherson, and Melbourne based, Scottish born timber merchant Robert Smith. She was born at Melrose, Scotland, on 17 April 1874. She lived at Fitzroy with her parents till she was seven years old and later she traveled to Europe, Britain, and Australia.[1][3][5] Smith was partly educated at a Scottish boarding school, and at Hanover, Germany, in 1889 and later attended Presbyterian Ladies' College and learned music, German, dancing, and Elocution.[1][3][5] She married a barrister, William John Schutt, on 11 December 1901 at Toorak Presbyterian Church, the wedding being widely reported in the press.[1][3][5] In 1919, William Schutt became a Supreme Court Judge. He died in 1933 at Melbourne.[1][3][5]